Flexible hair curling device



Dec. 31, 1968 N. SOLOMON 3,

FLEXIBLE HAIR CURLING DEVICE Filed Oct. 25. 1965 my "M NJ ATTORNEYUnited States Patent 3,419,018 FLEXIBLE HAIR CURLING DEVICE NathanSolomon, PO. Box 550, Englewood, NJ. 07631 Filed Oct. 23, 1965, Ser. No.503,315

5 Claims. (Cl. 132-40) ABSTRACT or THE DISCLOSURE A longitudinallyextendible one-piece plastic curler having a helical strand defining acylindrical surface. A series of circumferentially spaced teeth extendlongitudinally from the strand with their axes parallel to the axis ofthe curler. Each such tooth faces but is not joined to the consecutivehelix for forming a yieldable curl supporting surface of the curler.

This invention relates to a device for forming curls in the hair andparticularly to a one piece hair curling device adapted to maintain thehair on the roller when a tress of hair is wound thereon.

Hair curling as practiced today in the home and beauty shops involvesdivision of the hair of the user into various tresses or swatches. Eachof the tresses or swatches is evenly wound on a hair curler and bydampening the curled tress with water or by chemical or heat applicationor the like, the swatch or tress is caused to take the form imparted tothe hair by the curler.

As is well known in the art, during hair waving treatment, the hairfilaments elongate when dampened with water or waving lotions andcontract when drying. If a curler does not embody adequate means forcompensating for the elongations and contractions of the hair filamentsduring the curling process, the hair swatch wound thereon frequentlybecomes loosened and the individual hair filaments become displaced andtake the curl form existing under the loosened or displaced condition,which does not produce the optimum curl, which of course is the desiredresult of the curling operation. Also, a satisfactory curler shouldallow the hair to be sprayed evenly over the curler surface, and shouldnot provide points of stress concentration with respect to the hairfilaments. Often after hair waving lotion has been applied to the tressof hair, the individual filaments become brittle and are easily brokenor harmed by stress concentrations.

Further, the wave setting solutions widely used to form curls areusually highly lubricating in nature, thus making it difficult to rollthe hair curlers with the fingers of the user without encounteringslippage between the fingers and the curlers. Also, the waving lotionsused today are often corrosive to many of the inexpensive metalsheretofore used in curlers, thereby requiring the use of expensive,non-corrosive metals or coating the less expensive metals with paint,enamel or the like so as to be resistant to the chemicals in thesolution. However, the ends of the metal strip or coil, where cut, areoften easily corroded by the hair waving solutions.

Additionally, after the hair was rolled on the curler, separate hairretaining devices were required to retain the rolled hair and curler inproper position on the head of the user. These hair retaining devicesdeformed the curls and oftentimes hurt the hair strands.

A wide variety of hair curlers have been developed including those madeentirely of plastic but they have not proved entirely satisfactory.

Heretofore, curlers were made of metal or plastic with a series ofapertures cut in their rolling surfaces, such as diamond or circularshaped apertures, for reducing the weight of the curler and to permitpassage of air to aid in ice drying. However, these prior art curlerslacked inherent resiliency and flexibility to readily conform to thecontour of the scalp or maintain the hair under constant tension whenhair was wound thereon or else were too expensive to sell widely.

A curler overcoming many of these disadvantages is shown in Patent3,170,469. This curler while being flexible had the individual helicesof the coil interconnected which restricted free movement. Also, aseparate hair holding element was required.

Other prior art curlers used a combination of metal springs and cottonmesh netting. This type of curler used costly material and was diflicultand expensive to assemble.

A cotton mesh cover is placed about the spring surface so that anyradial compression of the curler, such as occurs during winding of thehair, separates the mesh from the spring circumference, therebyproducing an uneven curl. Also, this type of curler required a separatestructure, such as a brush, for initially holding or grasping the endsof the filaments or strands of hair of the tress to be curled, whenstarting to roll the tress. Often times the separate hair holding meansmade the curler non-conformable to the scalp and was uncomfortable forthe user to keep the curler in the hair overnight and irritated thescalp of the user. Additionally, the metal, especially the ends, wasadversely affected by chemicals and dyes used in hair waving solutionssometimes discoloring the hair.

Therefore it is an object of the present invention to provide a simpleand effective hair curler which retains the hair filaments fromcircumferential movement about the periphery of the curler when a swatchof hair is wound thereon and which simultaneously holds the hairfilaments in place.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a resilient,one piece hair curling device in any color requiring no assembly andwhich allows the hair to be spread evenly over the curling surface, andwhich restrains the hair wound thereon from movement.

Another object is to provide a one piece, flexible curling device whichis sufiiciently rigid to maintain its general shape while having aswatch of hair wound thereon, and readily conforms to the scalp of theuser and also flexes during the winding operation for holding the woundhair under tension during wetting and drying of the hair and returningto its original shape after removing the swatch of hair.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a haircurling device having an integral spring coil for supporting the tressWound thereon and for maintaining flexibility and compressibility of thecurler which coil thereon will not be discolored or adversely affectedby the acids, hydroxides, chemicals or dyes, such as used in hair wavingsolutions.

A still further object is to provide a. light weight hair curling devicethat will positively engage and maintain a swatch of hair placed on thedevice preparatory to and after winding the hair onto the body of thedevice without injury to the individual strands of hair and sufficientlyflexible to allow the user to wear the curler overnight withoutdiscomfort, if desired.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a haircurling device that accomplishes all of the above and yet is simple touse and inexpensive to fabricate, light in weight, allows freeevaporation of any moisture in the hair and is reliable and durable inuse.

Other objects and features of the invention will be apparent when thefollowing description is considered in connection with the annexeddrawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view partly broken away of a hairholding device in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 2-2 ofFIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a portion of the hair holding device shown in FIGURE 1 beingflexed; and

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary front elevational view showing hair rolledthereon.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown an elongated, generallycylindrical, curling device 11 having for its curl support surface aspiral or helical coil 14 having the desired length and defining thedesired diameter.

Coil 14 defines a generally cylindrical body or winding drum, which isexpandible and contractible in both a longi tudinal direction andinversely in a radial direction. At opposite ends of coil 14 andintegrally connected thereto are a pair of circumferentially continuousend rings 16 and 18. If desired, the outer diameter of end rings 16 and18 may be greater than the outer diameter of coil 14 so as to aid inwinding the roller and prevent filaments of the tress being wound on thecurler from being laterally displaced from the curler body.

Integrally connected to the helices forming coil 14 and disposed aboutthe outer peripheral surface of coil 14 are a series of longitudinallyextending flexible teeth 21, which cooperate to form an open meshnetting. Teeth 21 are cantilevered since they are joined only at theirbase to a helix. Teeth 21, as shown, have a corresponding facing bristleextending from the adjoining helix. Also, teeth 21 and 23 are shownwhich extend substantially the entire distance between consecutivehelices. Advantageously, to ensure suflicient rigidity a few strands 25interconnect corresponding portions of coil 14 or consecutive helices.To obtain additional flexibility if desired, strands 25 may beserpentine in shape. Since teeth 21 and 23 do not interconnect adjacenthelices, the mesh formed thereby, permits free bending and longitudinalmovement of the curler body and free return to its original shape, suchas shown at 24 in FIGURE 3. Further the cantilevered construction ofteeth 21 or 23 permits ease of stretching of curler 11 and allows radialflexing of mesh between adjacent helices of coil 14.

Upon initially rolling hair on the mesh, teeth 21 and 23 betweenadjacent segments of coil 14 will flex inwardly. The inwardly flexedportions of teeth 21 maintain the filaments of the swatch of hair woundthereon under tensivestress at all times, because of the expansiveforces tending to return the teeth to their normal peripheral position.As the hair filaments elongate and contract because of being treatedwith Water, lotions, etc. and through drying, the resiliency and freedomof movement or give, of teeth 21 tend to compensate for the elongationsand contractions of the hair by flexing outwardly from their inwardlyflexed position or permitting them to be further flexed inwardly if thehair further contracts. Similarly, curler 11 can expand and contractlongitudinally in accordance with the radial forces exerted thereon.

Curler 11 is only flexed so as to readily conform to the head of theuser, as shown in FIGURE 3. Bending curler 11 draws the coils of saidhelix towards each other at the compressive portion, indicated at 24,and separates the coils of said helix at expanded portions 26. Coil 14tends to separate, when expanded as at 26, and overlap when compressed,as at 24. Even when curler 11 is severely flexed or compressed, the meshremains integral to the helix and generally maintains its cylindricalshape. For these reasons, the curler is readily compressible, butsufficiently firm to support a curl.

Advantageously the outer surfaces of end rings 16 and 18 are knurled orroughened in some manner to form a roughened surface to aid inpreventing slippage of the curler during the rolling operation, when thehighly lubricating waving lotions are used.

The helices of coil 14 should be made sufficiently rigid and undertension to maintain its unstressed shape. Applying an axial stretchingor separating force to end rings 16 and 18 separates the helices causingteeth 21 attached to consecutive helices to move apart. Upon removal ofthe stretching force, the helices snap back to their. unstressedposition and teeth 21 will penetrate the swatch of hair 28 woundthereon, as shown in FIGURE If necessary, an additional aid to initiallyhold the ends of a swatch of hair in place on the peripheral surface ofcurling device 11 preparatory to rolling may be used by having amultiplicity of spaced apart teeth or bristles 40 extend radiallyoutwardly from the outer peripheral faces of coil 14. Teeth or bristles40 are relatively long and slender and preferably made of a resilientflexible material. It is desirable that bristles 40 be made from amaterial that is quite resilient and has a high degree of springiness sothat they always maintain their shape, and will not harm the filamentsof hair or scrape the scalp of the user while wearing the curler. Asseen in FIGURE 4, coil 14 has bristles 40 integrally projectingtherefrom throughout its entire length. However, the portions of coil 14having bristles 40 extending therefrom may be varied. Teeth 21, as wellas 40, positively hold and maintain the ends of a swatch of hair inposition on the surface of the curler in a simple and easy mannerpreparatory to rolling the swatch onto the curler as well as restrainingthe strands of hair fro-m circumferential movement during and afterWinding and prevents the strands from slipping axially along theperiphery of the curler.

After the tress or swatch of hair has been wound upon the curler of thepresent invention, the swatch is secured by pulling apart the ends 16and 18 of the curling device 11 which separates adjoining helices ofcoil 14 permitting some hair to be received between teeth 21. Releasingthe ends 16 and 18 of curling device 11, the prestressed coil 14 causesthe helices to assume their unstressed position and teeth 21 penetratethe swatch of hair to hold the hair in place and to retain the curlerfrom being accidentally displaced from the hair.

It will be understood that the curler device is a one piece integralcurler and can be constructed of any suitable material. But from thestandpoint of economy and weight it would be desirable to form the samefrom a plastic material having reasonably high flexibility so that theresulting molded curler produces a firm and yet slightly yieldabletubular body which will be soft upon the head and yet can readilyconform to the contour of the scalp of the user while giving theintegral bristles sufficient resiliency and durability for long andcontinued use. Such a resilient plastic may be polyethylene. However,the present curler will be flexible and conform to the head of the usereven if the helical coil is made of a rigid material.

Thus, there has been disclosed a one piece hair curling device having anelongated, flexible, expandible and compressible hollow body for forminga light weight, ventilated flexible structure on which a curl is formedand any moisture in the hair can evaporate freely. The curling device ofthe present invention positively holds and maintains the separatestrands of a swatch of hair on any portion of its rolling surfacewithout further effort required by the user, as well as exertingcontinuous tension on the strands forming the curl for automaticallyadjusting to the tension of the curl during its setting and dryingprocess. Furthermore, the present invention by being flexible, producesa more natural curl since differences of tension of the hair whichnaturally occur in the curling process will produce a curl which is nottoo regular or uniform in diameter and therefore will not lookartificial. Additionally, a method has been shown for producinga onepiece curler having a spiral hair support element.

While a preferred embodiment has been described above, it will beunderstood that many variations thereof will be readily apparent tothose skilled in the art without departing from the spirit thereof.Therefore, it is intended that the foregoing description shall be deemedillustrative only and not construed in the limiting sense, the presentinvention being defined solely by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A one-piece hair curler comprising a continuous helical coil defininga generally tubular body with spaced apart turns and a series ofcircumferentially spaced longitudinally extending flexible teethcantileverly mounted to the helical coil and facing an adjoining helixfor forming a flexible, yieldable, circumferential wall of said curler.

2. A hair curler as in claim 1, further including longitudinallyextending flexible strands integrally interconnecting selected adjoininghelices of such coil.

3. A one-piece plastic hair curler comprising annular end members, acontinuous helix forming a plurality of helical coils extending betweenand integrally joining said end members for defining a generally tubularbody, said coils being longitudinally spaced from each other, and aseries of circumferentially spaced apart longitudinally extending teethintegrally joined only at one end to said helix and extending toward anadjoining helix for forming a flexible, yieldable wall of said body,whereby said curler can be longitudinally elongated to receive hairtherein.

4. A one-piece hair curler comprising a continuous helical coil havinglongitudinally spaced apart turns defining a generally tubular body anda series of circumferentially spaced apart flexible teeth integrallyconnected only at one end to the helical coil and having their axesparallel to the axis of said curler for forming a flexible, yieldable,circumferential wall of said curler, so as to enable said turns todeflect and deform laterally of the roller axis and adapted to beelastically extended longitudinally to receive or release hair betweensaid teeth and said coil.

5. A curler as in claim 4, further containing a multiplicity of flexiblebristles extending radially outwardly from said coil.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,275,007 9/1966 Thackeray 132403,314,435 4/1967 Winkler 13240 3,334,638 8/1967 Behrens 132-40 FOREIGNPATENTS 1,257,559 2/ 1961 France.

LOUIS G. MANCENE, Primary Examiner.

G. E. MCN-EILL, Assistant Examiner.

